Akuma
by OhayoHimawari
Summary: The Sandaime sends Kakashi to investigate strange occurrences on the Nara lands and the ANBU learns that some shinobi can't abide by the laws of nature. Hiruzen's nightmare begins when proof that both his sensei Lord Tobirama Senju, and pupil Orochimaru couldn't leave the realm of the dead alone A/N: I do not own these characters.


**Akuma**

 **A/N:** **This fic is my submission for the Kakashiweek2018, "Ghosts" prompt.**

 **I do not own these characters; I had a wonderful time exploring them.**

"I don't know how to report this to you Hokage-sama. There's definitely something there. But I'm at a loss as to how to eliminate it. I'm not even sure how to confront it."

Hiruzen Sarutobi could count on one hand the number of times Kakashi Hatake's reports didn't begin with the words "mission accomplished." Pulling the pipe from his mouth, he leaned forward to retrieve the scroll detailing the mission thus far.

It had been curious, to begin with. The Third Hokage could easily recall the strange exchange he'd had with Shikaku. He knew the Nara clan head to be a clever and capable man, so it was noteworthy when he brought his confusion and concerns directly to the village leader.

"The deer have been exhibiting odd behavior, Hokage-sama. But only when they approach this specific spot," Shikaku pointed to an area on a map of the Nara lands.

"Odd behavior?"

"Yes, sir. It's as if they sense a predator there, though I've not seen proof of one. There's a rocky outcropping, and the deer become agitated as they approach it. Whenever they get close to it, they turn tail and flee."

"Hmm," Hiruzen mulled this over, but his thoughts were interrupted when Shikaku continued.

"I say there's no proof of a predatory animal because I have set traps and they've come up empty. However," the Nara clan head cast his eyes out the window in the direction of his home. "I sense something there, myself; something difficult to explain. Something I can't see, smell or hear. But I can feel it. Or I should say, the closer I get to the outcropping, I get a feeling of…" here he trailed off, unsure of himself.

Shikaku shifted his eyes to those of the Hokage's, and the older man nodded at him in encouragement. Sighing, the Nara admitted "dread, Lord Third."

Shifting his focus from the past to the present, Hiruzen lifted his eyes to the silver-haired ANBU captain standing before him. Although Kakashi's features remained hidden behind the fabric mask he wore, Lord Third could clearly see the consternation carved into his face. And something more-perhaps fear?

"I had only so little information to pass on to you, to begin with, Kakashi. Why don't you sit down, and tell me what you encountered there." As the younger man pulled a chair closer to the desk, the Hokage added, "please speak freely of your experience."

As soon as the ANBU captain had seated himself, his summons leaped up to him. Pakkun usually announced his presence upon entering a room, and the small whimper that escaped him as he curled into his master's lap was exceedingly out of character. Hiruzen waited patiently for Kakashi to begin to tell him the details of his mission.

"Well sir, I went to the location as you directed. I found the rocky outcropping you described and can confirm there is a dark aura, so to speak, that I sensed there. Also, I found traces of Orochimaru's chakra signature."

Lord Third closed his eyes and drew from his pipe. Here, once again, he was forced to face his own weakness and blindness in regards to his pupil. Pushing the thought aside, he exhaled a cloud of smoke and reopened his eyes when the ANBU continued his report.

"The chakra was faint, and I found its source was from a weakening seal. It wasn't difficult for me to dispel it, revealing an entrance that led below ground. The further I traveled down the tunnel, the greater this sense of dread became." Kakashi looked down at the pug in his lap and began scratching behind the ears of his summons.

"The first room I came upon contained only a chair and a couple of small tables. On one table, I found this." The silver-haired ANBU pulled a scroll he'd tucked underneath his armored vest, and placed it on the Hokage's desk.

Immediately, Hiruzen recognized the handwriting of his own sensei-the Second Hokage-Lord Tobirama Senju. He collected the scroll and opened it. After reading a few lines, his eyes bulged. "But this is, no!"

He held in his hands the dark legacy of his predecessor — the Reanimation jutsu which had been forbidden and hidden within Konoha's archives. The Third Hokage shuddered, knowing the scroll had been in the hands of his pupil, Orochimaru. He rolled the scroll up and stowed it between the folds of his robe.

Kakashi sat with his gaze trained upon Pakkun. He slowly stroked the fur along the back of his summons. An action that was soothing for both, Hiruzen assumed. The village leader sighed. "I can't imagine what horror you met with, Kakashi, and it pains me to ask you to continue. But I need to know everything now. What else did you find?"

The ANBU captain took a deep breath and let it out again. "There was only one other room, a larger one. When I entered it, the increasing sense of dread that had followed me up to that point became something else. Something different. It's as if the air itself was seething, furious.

"In this room was a long worktable. There were notes scattered across it, and," here Kakashi took another deep breath "a human jaw bone fragment in a glass jar."

The ANBU captain kept his gaze on Pakkun while he spoke. "Hokage-sama, owing to the atmosphere in the room, I didn't linger to go over the notes. But I did collect them all." At this, Kakashi reached underneath his armored vest again and retrieved a pocket folder which contained Orochimaru's notes. He placed it on the Hokage's desk, just as he had done with the Reanimation jutsu scroll.

Hiruzen set his pipe down, wasting no time to pour over the additional information. The folder mostly contained the incoherent scrawls of a madman, but there was one document that wasn't in his former pupil's handwriting. It was a list of locations, with one scratched out. At the top of the page was a name: Burasage Niyorushi. Hiruzen squeezed his eyes shut at the sight of it, and slammed his fist on his desk.

"Who was he?" Kakashi whispered. His lone right eye, wider than the Hokage had ever seen it, focused on the document, keen to know its secrets.

"Burasage Niyorushi lived during the era of warring clans," Lord Third began. "He hired himself out as a professional executioner, with no allegiance to any particular clan. As such, he traveled wherever his services were needed, wherever prisoners had been sentenced to death for their crimes." Hiruzen set the document face down upon his desk.

"His preferred method of execution was a public hanging. He refused to cover the heads of those who'd been sentenced. Burasage liked to watch the faces of the prisoners as they died. He wanted to be the last man they saw in their final moments." The village leader reached again for his pipe. Before lighting it, he added, "this thirst for death earned him the nickname 'Akuma,' or demon."

Kakashi watched as the embers glowed red in the Third Hokage's pipe. Drawing in a quick breath of his own, he asked, "how did he die?"

"Peacefully, in his sleep. Burasage Niyorushi's conscience was never weighed down by ending so many lives." Releasing another puff of smoke, Hiruzen went on to say "which in itself, was the most troubling. Akuma's lack of remorse frightened others. After he passed, he was cremated and his skeletal remains scattered throughout the land. At the time, it was believed that if you denied the dead a proper burial, their spirit would remain trapped in Hell, unable to continue in the cycle of rebirth."

The village leader pulled the pipe from his mouth and looked down at Orochimaru's notes. "It would seem my pupil was trying to revive Akuma with my master's forbidden jutsu." Hiruzen lifted his tired eyes to the ANBU captain, "you said there was a human jaw bone fragment in a glass jar. Do you have that with you as well?"

Kakashi's right eye briefly met with the eyes of his Hokage. "No, Hokage-sama. I tried to retrieve it, but I-or perhaps I should say, my attempts to collect it were…unsuccessful." Kakashi turned his face towards the window and looked out in the direction of the lands belonging to the Nara clan. The Third Hokage was patient, waiting for the ANBU to put his thoughts into words.

"Professor, what you've just told me," Kakashi began, unconsciously slipping into the habit of using Hiruzen's informal title when addressing his Hokage. "It helps me to make sense of what I experienced in that room." The silver-haired man turned his face to look at the documents spread across the desk before him.

"As I said sir, the atmosphere of the room was heavy, burning with anger. And though I couldn't see him, or hear him, somehow I just knew I was dealing with an enraged man. If his soul was denied reincarnation, that explains the enmity I sensed."

Hiruzen noticed that the hand that stroked Pakkun began to tremble slightly, but Kakashi continued. "When I first reached for the jar, I felt a tug at the back of my vest. I looked around, but there was no one there. When I reached for the jar a second time, it happened again. On the third try, I lunged for the jar. But the moment my hand touched it, I was pulled from behind and thrown across the room."

Lord Third watched as sweat began to drip down the side of the ANBU agent's temple. "I don't understand it, Hokage-sama. Something is in there, and it was preventing me from gathering the bone. Because I couldn't see, smell or hear it, I summoned Pakkun to help me locate, or identify what I was up against, but-" Kakashi was interrupted by the pug in his lap.

"I told him to get out, Sarutobi. There is something malevolent there. Something very dangerous." Pakkun's bluntness and lack of respectful address drove the point home.

"Hmm," Hiruzen nodded, unable to blame the shinobi or his summons for wanting to escape whatever it was they'd met with. He himself wouldn't know how to confront such a foe.

"I got out after that," Kakashi picked up the story again. "I applied a new seal to the entrance at the rocky outcropping and came directly here to report. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to bring all that I found there, to you."

Lord Third knows that the last Hatake is sensitive to the idea that he may be disappointing others, and he was quick to put the ANBU captain's mind at ease.

"You have given me plenty, Kakashi. Thanks to you, I can piece together what occurred there." Hiruzen detected a wrinkle in the younger man's facial mask and could imagine it was due to a small, relieved smile.

"I think we've stumbled upon an incomplete experiment," the Hokage's voice betrayed his fatigue as he spoke. "It would seem that my pupil was partially successful in reanimating Burasage Niyorushi. At least, his vengeful spirit was returned. Do not blame yourself Kakashi; it must have been so powerful that even Orochimaru had to flee from it. What's more," Hiruzen patted his robes, "he never returned for Lord Tobirama's scroll that details the Reanimation jutsu. That tells me all I need to know of what terror lingers there."

"What should we do about it?" Kakashi had recovered enough to think of the safety of the village before himself again.

"You were right to seal the entrance again Kakashi, and I've no doubt you've applied a very strong one. You've done well. Let me take it from here; I'll enforce what you've started to keep Akuma trapped until we can come up with a better solution."

 **Epilogue**

Akuma remained undisturbed for years. Not quite long enough to be forgotten, but the deer returned to graze peacefully there. Until one day there was another presence below ground, hidden on the Nara lands.

From the large room of Orochimaru's lair, the sounds from another madman began to filter in. Amongst the garbled, inarticulate rantings two words were repeated often enough to become clear: "Lord Jashin." Akuma could wait, biding his time until the seal would weaken again, and he would be free to seek out this fellow troubled soul, furious at being left trapped between life and death.

 **The End**

 **A/N: I took some liberties with the Japanese language for the name "Burasage Niyorushi." _Burasage ni yoru shi_ translates into English as "death by hanging."**


End file.
